


Beloved More When It's Broken

by PunishedPyotr



Series: White Diamond [3]
Category: Metal Gear
Genre: Language Kink, Orgasm Delay, Other, Past Rape/Non-con, Spitroasting, Threesome - M/M/M, Unhealthy Relationships, Unresolved Emotional Tension, implied infidelity, ntr, reupload
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-05
Updated: 2018-02-05
Packaged: 2019-03-13 20:20:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13578234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PunishedPyotr/pseuds/PunishedPyotr
Summary: Mantis grabbed Liquid’s shoulders and leaned forward over him to hiss at Ocelot. “You are an interloper inourbed. Know your place.”





	Beloved More When It's Broken

**Author's Note:**

> ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Mantis sat back and tried to remember how the ever-living blue _fuck_ he managed to get himself into this situation.

Actually, that was easy. The answer was sitting right in front of him, or, more specifically, on his hands and knees in front of him, wearing nothing but a leather collar, eyes directed at the floor, face more or less between Mantis’ knees. Liquid Snake.

The part Mantis _couldn’t_ explain was who was kneeling behind Liquid (on a pillow, old knees and all): Revolver “Eli, _please_ just let me _kill him_ ” Ocelot.

Bastard wasn’t even wearing any pants. Not anymore. Mantis was extremely uncomfortable.

How’d Liquid talk him into this again?

“Nervous?” Ocelot said, grabbing Liquid’s hips — which would make it seem like he was talking to him, but his eyes flicked towards Mantis as he said it. Liquid shook his head nonetheless.

He was lying.

Mantis, vaguely wondering if it would be even _possible_ to just ignore Ocelot, leaned forward slightly and took Liquid’s face in one hand, rubbing a thumb over his cheekbone. _We really do not have to do this_ , he reminded Liquid mentally. _Any time you would like to, just say stop, and it will be over immediately. No one here will force you, Eli. Do not force yourself._

“It’s fine,” Liquid said in a low voice.

There was a bit of irony in the line _No one here will force you_. Honestly, that was the whole reason why Mantis had agreed to this horrifically stupid escapade - because he knew, he _knew_ Liquid was going to end up sleeping with Ocelot again and at this point… well, he was desperate. Liquid had been fantasizing about a ménage à trois for a while now (although Mantis wasn’t sure if “ménage à trois” was really the right term when Liquid guiltily touched himself to the idea of Ocelot and Mantis essentially _teaming up_ on him), so Mantis had kind of suggested this, but it was more like he confronted him about it.

And then he’d let Liquid convince him to give it a try because if Liquid was going to let Ocelot fuck him again no matter what Mantis did, the best Mantis could really _do_ was be present for the disaster itself and make sure Ocelot didn’t do exactly what Mantis didn’t trust him _not_ to do.

Liquid persuaded him to actually join in on the action via a self-conscious compunction about how if Mantis just watched then he’d really feel like he was cuckolding him.

_Ha ha. Being cuckolded by Eli has been half my life since 1994._

Ocelot leaned over Liquid, his hands moving up to his ribs, and whispered in his ear - just loud enough that Mantis could hear, too, although he would have been able to hear from Liquid’s mind what Ocelot was saying anyway. “Are you going to sit still this time, Liquid?”

Liquid briefly glanced up at Mantis, then looked at the floor again. “Mantis likes it when I… I behave myself, too,” he said, in the same low tone as before.

“That does explain the collar,” Ocelot said, hooking one finger into its lead and giving it a quick tug. Liquid took in a sharp breath, and Mantis grimaced behind his mask.

“The collar means that he _belongs_ to _me_ ,” Mantis said acidly.

“Kinky,” Ocelot purred.

After the last time Liquid had gone astray and gotten himself involved with this cat bastard again, Mantis had asked him if he wanted him to treat him roughly, more like the way Ocelot did during that whole mess of a ‘relationship’ they had had back at Outer Heaven. Liquid had only given a confused non-answer, simultaneously craving abuse and being terrified at the prospect of losing the way Mantis was gentle and patient with him, and Mantis had offered a compromise: he’d be _stern_ , harsh even, with him, but not sadistic. Just… dominant.

It was mostly a lot of arbitrary rules. _Keep still while I am taking care of your disgusting needs_ was one of them, like Liquid had just mentioned. And quite frankly Mantis banning masturbation had been a stroke of genius, considering how much it turned Liquid on to buck his restrictions like that — he could actually keep _himself_ sated half the time just through that. The only thing Mantis really had to do was follow through on Liquid’s punishment for breaking the rules, which could be anything from writing a deeply humiliating essay about his misbehavior to being used as a footstool. Mantis usually defaulted to taking embarrassing photos of him (for instance, presenting himself in lacy lingerie), which he deleted when they were done.

(Mostly deleted. Kinbaku pictures had a tendency of coming out pretty tasteful, in Mantis’ opinion, so he kept a few of the better-looking, less explicit ones.)

“What do you take me for?” Mantis snapped.

 _Mantis_ , Liquid thought, _you said you wouldn’t pick a fight with him…_

“I’m not judging,” Ocelot said coolly.

Mantis grabbed Liquid’s shoulders and leaned forward over him to hiss at Ocelot. “ _You_ are an interloper in _our_ bed. Know your place.”

“Mantis,” Liquid said warningly, out loud this time.

“We’re not exactly in bed,” Ocelot said at the same time. Which he wasn’t wrong, they were on the floor, except Mantis, who was in a chair.

Mantis grumbled and shut up, _only_ because Liquid wanted him to. After a moment of Liquid and apparently Ocelot waiting to see if Mantis was going to get snippy again, Ocelot kind of sat, pulling back on Liquid’s hips and pushing his ass close to his crotch. Mantis narrowed his eyes.

“Are you just going to ignore him, Liquid?” Ocelot whispered in his ear. “I’m sure he feels neglected right now.”

“Eh? …oh.” Liquid rested his hands on Mantis’ thighs, and craned his neck up, kissing and licking the underside of his jaw submissively. _‘Jealous’ is probably a better word, isn’t it, Mantis?_ he thought.

 _You have no idea how glad I am that we can communicate without_ him _hearing_ , Mantis replied. _And he has no way to talk to you without me knowing what is said…_

 _‘Paranoid_ ,’ Liquid corrected himself, then gasped against Mantis’ skin as Ocelot worked his hands around Liquid’s front, pressing his fingers hard against the high inner thighs - probably hard enough to bruise, which made Mantis sick.

Biting his lip as Ocelot fondled him, Liquid ran his hands up Mantis’ legs, reaching the zipper at the crotch of his outfit and fumbling with it, struggling to focus with where Ocelot’s hands already were. Mantis brought his own hands up to the back of Liquid’s neck, where he slipped his fingers under the collar, a possessive move, really, and he saw Ocelot’s eyes briefly settle on it before moving away again.

Mantis was really, really glad that Liquid’s body was blocking Ocelot’s view of his dick. He did not think he would physically be able to _stand_ that.

“S…so that’s what it looks like,” Liquid said under his breath, drawing it out.

“What, you haven’t seen it before?” Ocelot said, then directed his questioning glance towards Mantis. “I thought you two were lovers. You’re telling me he hasn’t actually fucked you, Liquid?”

“I… er…”

“Does it matter?” Mantis said icily.

“Of course it matters,” Ocelot said, leaning forward slightly, and Mantis instinctively jerked Liquid’s head closer to his groin just to cover himself. “How can you just let the poor man go untouched? How can you possibly satisfy him…?”

Mantis couldn’t read Ocelot’s mind, but the _That’s why he came back to_ me _even after everything you did_ was so implicit that he didn’t need to. He grit his teeth.

“Mantis, don’t take his bait,” Liquid said before Mantis could say anything, “and Ocelot, don’t antagonize him. I’m- I’m perfectly happy with him, I just… he…”

“Performance issues?” Ocelot said, wrapping a hand around Liquid’s dick and visibly squeezing.

“Gkh-hh—“

“I am not _selfish_ ,” Mantis snapped. “So of _course_ I would not do the same things to him that _you_ did. As a matter of fact, what you did-“

“ _Mantis_ ,” Liquid said, his voice thin.

“…” Mantis took a deep breath. _My apologies, Eli_ , he thought, _you asked me not to bring it up…_

_Thank you._

He really did give Liquid far too much say in, well, everything. Again and again, he avoided doing anything that would upset him, even if it would be for his own good… co-dependancy? What was that?

 _You’re fine, Mantis_ , Liquid thought, his grip on his thighs tightening. _I love you_. He tentatively mouthed his cock, and Mantis’ breath hitched.

Mantis tangled his fingers in Liquid’s hair, his chest tight at this new feeling against his dick. No matter how long Liquid had _wanted_ to do this, he’d never before let him, and obviously there was no one else, so… Mantis had never had anyone lick his cock before, let alone like _this_ , hell, he hadn't even had an erection in almost a decade. Ocelot’s smug little quip about performance issues may as well have been true — unsure if he’d be able to get it up on his own, and not wanting to disappoint Liquid, Mantis desperately reached into Liquid’s mind, hooking into his current of arousal and subconsciously imitating it, forcing blood to rush to his penis against the fact Liquid’s own dick was already fairly hard.

In the process Mantis realized that Ocelot was hard, too, and his erection was pressed insultingly on the cleft of Liquid’s ass. Liquid could feel it. Liquid knew what that _meant_ , too.

Mantis psychically pelted Ocelot in the side of the head with a bottle of lube.

“Not optional,” he said coldly.

“Fussy,” Ocelot muttered, rubbing where the bottle had hit, then picking it up and popping open the cap. Liquid wriggled against Ocelot in anticipation, dragging his tongue over the head of Mantis’ dick at the same time, his thoughts fuzzy.

Somewhere in there Mantis heard a mental comparison between Ocelot’s cock and his own: Ocelot was pretty average, although the way he _used_ his dick made it seem more… _impressive_ than it actually was, while Mantis was noticeably longer than him now that he was actually hard, but not quite as thick, which was an honest relief to Liquid — that whole assessment was pretty much the last thing Mantis wanted to hear, _ever_ , and he was sorely tempted to just stand up, call this whole thing off, and walk over the armory and blow his own brains out.

The only thing that really stopped him was the tangled feelings of joy and pleasure and gratitude flowing from Liquid to him over their psychic link. As disgusting as it was, Liquid actually seemed to really, _really_ like kissing Mantis’ dick over and over, and lapping up beads of pre-seminal fluid even though he hated the taste, and he was still in a state of rapturous disbelief that Mantis was actually _letting him do this_.

If only Ocelot weren’t part of this equation.

Ocelot slicked his fingers (not nearly enough, but when Mantis leaned forward slightly to snap at him about it he felt Liquid’s fingers flex around his hips warningly) and unceremoniously shoved two of them in Liquid’s asshole, with no warning. Liquid gasped against Mantis’ cock - then coughed painfully, hiding his face against Mantis’ leg and shifting his hips uncomfortably. Mantis, not knowing what else to really do, ran his fingers through Liquid’s hair.

“Oh,” Liquid whispered hoarsely, “oh _god_.”

“Hush,” Mantis murmured, almost automatically.

“Your better half has the right idea, Liquid,” Ocelot said, “you have better things to be doing with your mouth than _talking_.” He gave Liquid a firm smack on the ass that both Liquid and Mantis twitched at, for very different reasons.

“Y-Yes,” Liquid said, raising his face again and licking his lips almost anxiously, “of c-course. Mantis…”

His kissed his cock again, whining low in his throat as Ocelot fingered him, then opened wide, taking it in his mouth… Mantis made some kind of surprised, unintentional moan that he quickly stifled as he felt the tip of his dick rub up against the _soft_ inside of Liquid’s mouth - god, it was hot in there, and wet - then Liquid moved his head forward, arching his back a bit to get the right angle, forcing Mantis’ cock down past his gag reflex, making a brief choking noise that sounded pained but at the same time… lewd…

“Kh… Eli—”

Ocelot grinned unpleasantly at him. “Finally starting to enjoy yourself, Mantis?” he said, switching over to Russian, which Liquid didn’t speak.

“Don’t talk to me,” Mantis replied in same, tugging on Liquid’s hair absent-mindedly as Liquid swallowed around him.

Ocelot ignored him. “Like what he’s doing? Of course, our boy here already knew how to _suck_ by the time I got to him, but _I_ was the one who taught him how to use his lips and tongue like that…"

Hot, bilious rage boiled up in Mantis, but he forced it back down. He wanted to kill Ocelot, badly, but Liquid wasn’t about to allow that, especially not now - and his secondary impulse, to simply seize Ocelot by the throat and _squeeze_ , was belayed by the fact he was already (unfortunately, thanks to Liquid’s nastier memories) aware of the fact that Ocelot got off on being choked.

So instead Mantis directed his anger towards Liquid, taking fistfuls of hair and dragging his head down his cock until his nose was pressed against his stomach, winning a startled, asphyxiated retch from him. Damn him, this was _exactly_ what he wanted - Mantis supposed it was a control thing, that Liquid felt he had more say in the situation if Mantis treated him so roughly after being _baited_ into it as opposed to just deciding to do it on his own…

“That’s good,” Ocelot laughed, and Mantis noticed his hands were just about _shaking_ with suppressed anger. He needed to calm down. “You know he _needs_ this, Mantis - about time you gave it to him…”

“Shut _up_.”

 _Mantis_ _what are you two talking about_ , Liquid thought, a little dazedly. _I don’t understand you, is it something that involves me, that seems likely_

Mantis shook his head jerkily, rolling his hips against Liquid’s face and watching his eyes go all unfocused in both pleasure and not quite enough oxygen. _Ocelot is just trying to get under my skin_ , he thought.

Liquid whined low in his throat again - _fuck_ , Mantis could actually feel the vibrations on his cock - as Ocelot twisted his hand. Judging by the way Liquid’s body jerked and twitched, he was probably scraping against his walls with his nails. Mantis knew he liked to do that (and hated that he knew that). He also knew that that had a tendency to trigger flashbacks to the time Ocelot _raped Liquid_ \- _no_ , Mantis had _not_ forgotten about that, even if Liquid was _still_ in denial about it all these years later - he could sense Liquid’s brain gearing up for a panic attack…

“Enough of that,” Mantis snarled at Ocelot, speaking Russian again.

Ocelot raised an eyebrow at him, an expression that did nothing to acknowledge the fact that he was knuckle-deep in a man’s ass… and that that man was sucking cock for all he was worth at the same time, too… god _damn_ how on _earth_ had Mantis gotten himself into—??

“I didn’t know you were the one in charge here,” Ocelot replied, his wrist rolling sharply, and Liquid’s breath caught so hard he actually had to pull himself off of Mantis’ dick so that he could wheeze into Mantis’ lap, trembling. “Enjoying yourself, Liquid?” Ocelot said, switching back to English.

“Y-Yes… yes…” Liquid rattled, swallowing uncomfortably. “Just— Ocelot, will you j-just fuck me already, you goddamn t-tease?”

Ocelot grabbed Liquid by the hair, snatching him out of Mantis’ grasp and dragging him up so his head was by Ocelot’s. “Is this how you act in front of Mantis?” he hissed in his ear, “asking nicely? Whatever happened to pinning me down and just _taking_ what you wanted?”

Liquid’s eyes flicked to Mantis, and his throat moved as he swallowed hard again. “Ah… I, ahh…”

The lead on Liquid’s collar jerked up on its own, and he was psychically pulled away from Ocelot and back to Mantis as Mantis glared at Ocelot. Ocelot scoffed. Liquid nuzzled Mantis’ dick gratefully then started trailing his tongue around it again. —it was really hard to concentrate with this.

Ocelot pulled his fingers out in a swift, indelicate movement that Liquid cried out at, and almost faster than Mantis’ eyes could track the fingers were replaced with cock, Ocelot ramming his dick in there as far as it would go in one thrust. Liquid let out a scream that almost sounded like it tore his throat, digging his nails into Mantis’ thighs as his whole body spasmed in pain.

“Give him a minute,” Ocelot said before Mantis could do anything.

Mantis looked down at Liquid — he nodded dazedly, shivering, then pressed his cheek against Mantis’ leg, shifting his hips and moaning unevenly, and after approximately a minute he started rocking back against Ocelot, impaling himself on his cock, his eyes rolling up in his head as he bit his lip and whimpered.

“Good boy,” Ocelot said in a low voice to him. Then, “Liquid, you’re neglecting your lover again.”

Liquid nodded exhaustedly, moving forward and sucking on the side of Mantis’ cock, eyes closed. Mantis leaned back in his chair slightly, silent aside from his harsh breathing rasping through his gas mask. He’d somehow reached a point where he felt strangely… numb to the disgusting, infuriating display right in front of him, the way Liquid not only didn’t resist but actively welcomed Ocelot roughly fucking him, the way his body was no longer blocking Ocelot’s view of Mantis’ dick and Mantis saw his eyes wander towards it a few times, his expression thankfully only that of dismissive curiosity…

A small moan worked its way out of his lips as Liquid took him in his mouth again. He leaned his head back, closing his own eyes.

Like hell he could shut out Ocelot’s presence, but maybe he could make Ocelot _think_ he was ignoring him.

No dice. “Shame you never let yourself experience this,” Ocelot said, in Russian again, gesturing to Liquid writhing in his grasp. “I’m sure he’s thrown himself at you plenty of times.”

“I do not want to have this conversation,” Mantis informed him, glaring at him with one half-open eye.

“I’m surprised you never took him up on it, honestly - not because I think you actually care to take him for a ride, but because _this_ -“ he slipped two fingers under Liquid’s collar and tugged momentarily, and Liquid made a soft choking noise around Mantis’ cock, “—doesn’t mean anything.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You never laid claim to him. It doesn’t matter if he’s convinced he loves you — you never _took_ him, and you never marked him as your own. A collar’s just a scrap of leather.”

Mantis growled. “You—-“ he hissed in a sharp breath at the same time as Liquid moaned, stifled but loud, overwhelmed at a hard cock in both his ass and his mouth; Mantis felt some stupefying release of energy come from Liquid over their psychic link, enough of a shock that _he_ almost climaxed, and he realized a little belatedly that Liquid had just orgasmed, sort of. Whatever the hell Ocelot was doing down there with his hand clutching at Liquid’s groin, it had just made him have a dry orgasm - no ejaculation, no fading erection, no refractory period.

Some distant part of Mantis, one that had nothing to do with any of what was going on, dimly wondered if he should look up how to make Liquid do that himself.

Liquid had to pull himself off of Mantis’ dick so he could more or less get ahold of himself after that, and Mantis didn’t comment on it, just petting his hair wordlessly. Ocelot hadn’t even slowed down. Liquid kept wincing with every thrust.

 _You can tell him to stop anytime you like_ , Mantis reminded him, _and if he does not listen, I can always…_

 _no I’m fine_ , Liquid thought, kissing Mantis’ stomach, leaving a wet mark on the leather. _what were you two talking about just now, you sounded angry_

Mantis’ hand moved down the back of his head, running his fingers over the collar before slipping them under once more. _It was nothing, Eli_ , he thought.

Damn that Ocelot. He didn’t know anything about Liquid and Mantis’ relationship, only that Liquid had stayed by Mantis’ side through thick and thin once they were reunited, but after Venom’s death Liquid had left Ocelot - “There’s nothing left in Outer Heaven for me” - without even a moment’s hesitation.

He was _wrong_ if he thought Liquid still belonged to him. He was wrong if he thought Liquid had _ever_ belonged to him. Just because he _used_ him didn’t make him _his_.

Liquid forced Mantis down his throat again. That old fuck was still going, too.

It seemed interminable.

But before Mantis knew it, he himself was shaking, his breath getting quicker and shallower, his hands tightening weakly around Liquid’s hair and the back of his neck, his hips jerking up involuntarily, fucking Liquid’s face — on the verge of orgasm, and between the blood roaring in his ears and the sound of his own panting amplified by the filter of his gas mask and Liquid’s muffled groans, all he could hear were Liquid’s thoughts, racing incoherently and burning like magnesium, overpowering and bright and god he was _confused_ , confused and unbelievably, desperately, excruciatingly aroused—-

Mantis pulled out of his mouth, stringing semen along the way, dripping off Liquid’s lips. For a brief moment Liquid stared up at him, _grateful_ , and then Ocelot had grabbed him by the collar, yanking him back so his head was by his. Liquid yelped at the sudden change in angle and the crushing strap of pressure at the front of his neck.

Ocelot let go of the collar, but held Liquid there, standing on spread knees still joined with Ocelot, steadied by an arm around his waist. (Mantis didn’t miss the way Ocelot’s fingers brushed over the upside-down-V-shaped scar on his stomach.) With his other hand, Ocelot turned Liquid’s head and pulled his jaw down, and kissed him, deeply, very deeply, very invasively and very deliberately, putting on a show for Mantis.

Who might have thrown up a bit in his mouth at the fact that his semen was getting passed between Liquid’s mouth and Ocelot’s.

Silently Mantis tucked his now-soft dick back into his pants and zipped up, and even though he wanted to look away he just _couldn’t_. He passively watched Ocelot fuck Liquid and kiss him, and watched Liquid’s Adam’s apple bob as he tried to swallow Mantis’ semen despite the fact that half of it was trickling down his chin and he already had Ocelot’s tongue shoved down his throat anyway. And Ocelot was still fucking him.

Mantis went back to considering walking over to the armory and shooting himself.

Liquid reached for his dick, but Ocelot caught him before he could touch himself, shoving him forward again — Liquid caught himself, hissing, with his hands on Mantis’ knees, which he grasped hard, steadying himself as Ocelot pounded his ass from behind, faster now.

 _Great_ , Mantis thought dully, _I’m a piece of furniture._

At least it didn’t take too long for Ocelot to finish. Mantis knew when he did, mostly because of Liquid’s loud, sharp gasp at the hot, sticky feeling of fluid being forced into his bowels. Ocelot kept it up for a few more pumps, then slowed and stopped, caught his breath (faster than Mantis had, fuck him) and pulled out. Liquid whimpered, chewing on his lower lip.

“O-Ocelot…”

Ocelot pulled Liquid back to himself once again, Liquid’s eyes going unfocused at the pull of his collar cutting off his air supply _again_. Ocelot kissed his mouth again, roughly, then his temple, more softly, and said, “that was good, Liquid. Good boy.”

“Ocelot- I, I, I haven’t— I’m s-still— I… mngh…”

“I’m afraid that’s not up to me anymore,” Ocelot said, then pushed Liquid into Mantis’ arms, where he sagged, panting and shivering. “Take care of him,” Ocelot said to Mantis.

He sounded sincere.

Mantis didn’t let himself believe he really was.

“Get out,” he said quietly.

He just held Liquid without moving as Ocelot put his pants back on and bowed out. It only took about a minute. Liquid whined pleadingly against his chest the whole time.

As soon as Ocelot was gone, Mantis sunk to the floor with Liquid and grabbed him possessively, his earlier anger crawling its way back to the fore. Damn it. _Damn_ it, why had he ever agreed to this? To _invite_ Ocelot into their- their most _private, intimate_ moments, like inviting him back into their lives wasn’t bad enough. Liquid still ribbed Mantis sometimes about losing his shit when he recruited Ocelot to FOXHOUND, and said they had both overreacted back then, but dammit, Mantis had a right to not want Ocelot around. He had a right to _kill_ Ocelot in Liquid’s place, if only Liquid would allow him to exercize it…

Ocelot should have been messily executed along with all the others who had abused him, but even though Mantis had rained his judgement and Liquid’s vicarious revenge down on _them_ Ocelot was still around, and even dared to imply that Liquid was… was… he wasn’t….

“You are _mine_ ,” Mantis whispered dangerously, burying his head in Liquid’s shoulder, one arm tight around his waist and the other, trailing down across his heated, oversensitive skin then between his asscheeks, then he forced two fingers into Liquid’s just-fucked still-gaping hole.

Liquid stiffened. “Oh, g-god,” he said hoarsely, “oh, Mantis—“

He squirmed as Mantis moved his fingers, growling. “ _He_ can’t have you.”

“A-Ahh, Mantis—-“

“You are mine, Eli, you belong to _me_ , he has no _right_ to you—“

“—M-Mantis, god, Mantis-!”

He tried to scrape Ocelot’s semen out of Liquid’s ass, but it was difficult, since it was sticky and wet and up there further than Mantis could really _get_ his fingers no matter how hard he pushed and shoved. “I do not want his _filth_ inside you, Eli. He ought to be killed just for _touching_ you. I don’t want him in you, I don’t want him in your _head_ —-“

“M-M-Mantis! Mantis, p-please…!”

“I want him _gone_ , Eli—“

“Please, s-stop it-! Stop!!”

Mantis froze, breathing hard. Oh god.

Oh god, he was hurting him. He hadn’t been aware. He hadn’t been thinking - even now, he could barely feel the way Liquid was clutching at his shoulders with trembling hands. He felt numb and faraway and the only thing he could think about just now was how much he didn’t want Ocelot _tainting_ his Liquid. He didn’t realize he was hurting him, physically, and mentally too, Liquid’s stress levels shooting up until the shaking of his hands had a lot less to do with arousal than it had before.

Mantis carefully pulled his fingers out, as gently as he could. He could feel Liquid’s heart hammering from where his chest was pressed against his.

“I am sorry, Eli,” he rasped.

Liquid shook his head, breath coming too rapid and too ragged.

Mantis psychicked over a tissue and wiped Ocelot’s semen off his fingers, then his own off of Liquid’s face. “It is over. I stopped. I will not do that again. …Eli, breathe.”

He shook his head again, leaning it against Mantis’ shoulder, trying to calm down. Mantis ran his hand through his hair.

“You are fine. He’s gone. I am not angry anymore. It’s over.”

“M-Mantis…”

“Shh.”

Liquid pulled Mantis close, at first just pressing his body against his then slowly starting to grind against his stomach, moaning softly, shakily.

“…Eli…”

“I- I still w-want this… I s-still want y-you,” Liquid stammered, nuzzling Mantis’ neck. “Please, Mantis… p-please, this is th-the hottest thing that’s ever happened t-to me… just b-be… ah… be a l-little more c-careful with me…?”

Mantis stared at him in something like disbelief for half a moment, then sighed and rested his hand on his lower back. “Of course,” he murmured.

“Mmn… oh Mantis, I love y-you…”

“Go on.”

“I l-love you,” Liquid said again, rocking his hips a little more boldly against Mantis’ stomach, “I love you s-so much, I love you more th-than anything—“

“What about Ocelot?”

“I d-don’t care, he could n-never compare to you, h-he never has, you’re so m-much better than he is— y-you’re so much better to m-me, you sp-spoil me, Mantis, he never d-did that… I e-even like the taste o-of your cock better th-than his…”

“Mm.”

“G-God, I love you, Mantis, p-please… please l-let me finish, please let me cum, I’m so c-close, Mantis, let me finish, _please_ —-“

Mantis could hardly believe that even in this admittedly surreal situation, Liquid still held to Mantis’ arbitrary rule that he had to get permission to ejaculate.

Similarly, he could hardly believe that Liquid was so _docile_ in front of Ocelot, and then as soon as he was gone, got all fussy and demanding - more like usual, Mantis supposed, so really that wasn’t all that unbelievable.

Liquid might have been fussy and demanding but that’s just who he _was_. Ocelot never got that. Never got to see that, that shamelessness and lack of reservations that meant he was comfortable. _Mantis_ got Liquid Snake, the White Mamba, _Eli_ , and Ocelot just got the shadow of a man who was either too shell-shocked to fight back or too confused about his own anger to calm down and enjoy himself. So it didn’t matter if Ocelot and Mantis fought over who could properly claim to be Liquid’s lover.

If Liquid was a prize to be won, then Mantis _won_.

Mantis pushed against him, and Liquid unprotestingly followed the move, lying on the floor and letting Mantis sit on him, lacing their fingers together and pinning his hands to the carpet with his own. He bucked his hips up against Mantis’ body a few times, but stilled as Mantis moved up slightly, sitting on his stomach.

“Nn… fuck, M-Mantis…”

“Eli.”

“Please…”

“Tell me you love me.”

Liquid stared up at him, flushed and sweaty and wide-eyed. “I love you.”

“In every language you know.”

Liquid nodded eagerly. “I love you,” he said again, his voice tight, “rakastan sinua… saya sayang awak…” he bit his lip for a second, twisting his legs together, desperately trying to stimulate himself without pulling his hands from Mantis’ grip, “...t-te amo, je t’aime… ٲنَا ٱحِبُّك…”

“Keep going,” Mantis said softly.

“Mono… m-m-mono ke zola nge.”

“Good boy,” Mantis cooed, shifting slightly, leaning down to nuzzle Liquid’s face while at the same time positioning his ass so Liquid could rut up against it, groaning in relief.

“W-Wait,” Liquid said after a moment, “wait, wait—“ he was trying to hold back, although he wasn’t quite able to stop himself from rubbing his aching dick all over the leather. “I, I also… I learned a f-few phrases in Russian a wh-while back…”

“Oh?” Mantis said. He hadn’t noticed that. He must have done it in the middle of paperwork or some other administrative FOXHOUND-related thing, Mantis tended to not pay attention when Liquid was busy with that.

“Y-Yes… Я тебя люблю, Мантис, я люблю тебя всей душой…”

“Your pronunciation is a little off,” Mantis whispered, pressing the filter of his gas mask affectionately against his ear.

“Ah… and… I r-remembered that you were f-from Czechoslovakia originally, but I d-don’t know if you’re Czech or Slovak, I d-don’t think you ever told me, I th-think you said you were too young to know when you… a-ah… I j-just looked up both, s-so…”

“Go ahead.”

“Mantis, milujem ťa — miluju tě—-“

Mantis was silent for a moment, then laughed once. Liquid was right, Mantis didn’t know what ethnicity he could technically claim because he was too young to remember that kind of thing when he had burned down his village and got whisked away to be studied, but—

“Miluju tě,” he murmured absent-mindedly in Liquid’s ear. The sound of it seemed… nostalgic somehow.

“G-Good?” Liquid breathed.

“Good.”

Liquid bit his lip again, grinding up into Mantis, still doing his best to hold back, to control himself. Mantis was very vaguely aware of the sore spots on Liquid’s body that would turn to bruises by the next morning, and the way his throat and chest ached, and how his knees and shins were almost bleeding from carpet burn. And every too-intense throb of his painfully hard cock, too.

“Very well,” Mantis said, sitting up, and shifting his weight a little against Liquid’s erection and watching his eyelids flutter. “Spill your seed for me, Eli.”

Liquid’s eyes snapped to Mantis’, and he just panted for a brief second, and then he moaned, then stiffened, his back arching, lifting Mantis up, Liquid’s eyes rolling back in his head as he finally let go and orgasmed loudly, spilling all over Mantis’ back.

“There,” Mantis said, letting go of one of Liquid’s hands and brushing sweat-slicked strands of hair away from his face. “How was that?”

“Th… the b-best… ever…” Liquid mumbled dazedly, still breathing hard.

“You didn’t even need Ocelot to be here in the end.”

“Oh… oh M-Mantis, thank you… f-for letting me go through w-with that, I know you didn’t l-like it at all…”

“Shh.” He traced his fingers over Liquid’s lips. “I would honestly prefer it if we never discussed it again.”

“Ah…”

As many arbitrary rules as he had assigned Liquid, Mantis had given one to himself, too: that no matter what they did or how they did it, every ‘session’ with Liquid always ended with Mantis taking him to bed (even if that meant psychically levitating him as he flailed instinctively, then dumping him unceremoniously on the mattress) and cuddling him until he nodded off. No sleeping on the floor. Ever.

The residual arousal and adrenaline quickly drained from Liquid’s system, and he settled in easily against Mantis, no longer shifting languidly and just resting with his head tucked by his neck and arms around his waist - Mantis draped one arm lazily over his side, feeling strangely tired himself. But he didn’t sleep quite yet. Mostly because Liquid was still awake - still craving attention, a bit of affection after being treated so roughly…

“That was enough to keep you satisfied for the next week at least, hmm?” Mantis murmured.

“Mm…”

…yeah, speaking lightly of it really wasn’t making Mantis feel any better about the fact that he had just _let_ Ocelot fuck his lover _right in front of him_. That bastard was probably off gloating to himself in the showers right now.

“Eli…”

“Hn?”

“Tell me you love me again.”

“Je t’aime,” Liquid whispered against his skin, punctuating with a kiss, “je t’adore, je t’aime pour toujours et je veux être avec toi pour toujours… je t’aime plus chaque jour, depuis que nous nous sommes rencontrés.”

“…Eli.”

“Ma moitié — je t’aime comme la lune aime le soleil, comme le ciel aime les étoiles...”

“Eli, you know I do not understand French.”

“I know,” Liquid said with a sleepy smile. “But I think you can get the gist of it from my mind.”

“Mph.”

Liquid snuggled up close to Mantis, his mind humming with a sated, comfortable happiness, and Mantis tried to ignore the cramped, gnawing feeling in his chest and sour taste in his mouth that all the sweet conversation in the world couldn’t do anything to abate. All this was fine, from Liquid’s perspective - there wasn’t anything _wrong_ with what had just happened, from Liquid’s perspective — but Mantis felt _sick_.

Christ. If he wasn’t careful, he was going to start actively obsessing over Ocelot, spending every waking moment and probably most of his sleeping ones too with his whole mind devoted to how much he _hated_ the man for what he had _done_ to Liquid.

Of course, Mantis realized as he noticed he had been unconsciously tracing his fingers over the V-shaped scar on Liquid’s stomach, maybe he already did do that.

He moved his hand away before Liquid noticed where it was, but unfortunately for him Liquid noticed his hand moving, and furthermore where it _had been_ before he moved it, and his mood immediately dropped.

“You’re obsessing over that again,” he said quietly.

“I am not.”

“You are. You always do.”

“I do not.”

“It’s all you think about, isn’t it? My scar…” He grabbed Mantis’ hand with his own, and placed it back over his stomach. “Ocelot’s stamp of ownership, right? That’s how you think of it?”

“Eli… Eli, I don’t—“

“You look at it - you look at _me_ \- and he’s all you see. What he did to me, you can’t look past that, Mantis, it doesn’t matter to you if I don’t care about it, or that he did it to save me; you never even think you might be _wrong_ about us—“

“Eli, he-“

“Shh.” His fingers tightened around Mantis’, and he hid his face against his shoulder, pulling him closer with his other arm. “You’re paranoid and possessive and you didn’t like Ocelot to begin with. I don’t blame you for assuming the worst about his intentions.”

“He didn’t care about you,” Mantis said, “he only went for you because of your father - your biological father, I mean. Everyone knows he is in love with him still, you are the only one who will not acknowledge it.”

“…”

“And- back then, I did hear Quiet thinking about how he started that ‘relationship’ with you simply because he was bored, since Miller had left…”

“No,” Liquid said.

“No?”

“No. That isn’t true. There was… too much between us.”

Mantis couldn’t win this argument. Liquid was stubborn and in denial, and that never was a good combination.

“I hate this,” Mantis whispered. “He left his mark on you, and it was permanent. Even if you forgot everything, if your mind got reset - that scar would still be there. It would still try to lie and say you were ever his.”

“Mantis…”

“Ocelot was right. A collar does not mean anything… it is only a scrap of leather, it’s hardly proof of who takes care of you.”

Liquid let go of Mantis, rolled over and half-sat up, reaching into the drawer of the bedside table - and Mantis, alarmed at the idea Liquid suddenly had, also sat up and leaned over him, grabbing the wrist of the hand in the drawer before he could grab the knife he was reaching for.

“Eli, no,” Mantis said.

“It’s the only way, isn’t it? For you to be satisfied.”

“No. I won’t hurt you.”

“I can handle it, Mantis. Just make your mark, let it bleed a bit - I’ll go get stitches in the morning—“

“No!! I am not going to _mutilate_ you just because of what happened!”

Liquid took a deep breath, then let it out, going limp and lying back down, arm still hanging over the edge of the bed, wrist still in Mantis’ hand. “Then stop _obsessing_ over it, Mantis.”

“I…”

“Why _isn’t_ the collar proof of who I belong to? I _know_ it’s not like the scar, but- but, isn’t that the _point?_ There’s nothing I can do about what happened six years ago… however…” he drew his arm back slightly, catching Mantis’ fingers with his own and squeezing gently. “I _choose_ to wear your collar, don’t I?”

Mantis didn’t say anything. This almost seemed like the hint of an admission somewhere in Liquid’s mind that what had happened between him and Ocelot just might have involved a serious lack of consent somewhere along the line.

Progress?

He pulled himself closer to Liquid, pressing his chest against his back and resting his chin on the top of his head.

“…good night, Mantis,” Liquid said at length.

“Mm.”

Ocelot could still go to Hell, though.

**Author's Note:**

> I made Mantis Czech because my mom's family is Czech-American, Slovaks git gud ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> Liquid's "every language that you know" lines all (obviously) mean 'I love you', in order: Finnish*, Malay, Spanish, French, Arabic, Kikongo, Russian**, Slovakian, and Czech.  
>  _*Yes, this is a reference to that one hiimdaisy comic, lmao_  
>  _**Specifically, he says, "I love you, Mantis [note: my poor attempt at transliterating the English word "mantis", not the Russian word for it], I love you with all my soul."_  
>  His French lines later are, "I love you, I adore you, I love you forever and I want to be with you forever... I love you more every day, ever since we met. My other half — I love you like the moon loves the sun, like the sky loves the stars..." BTW I speak French


End file.
